Symptoms such as nausea and vomiting are considered to appear at the time of cancer chemotherapy with a probability of about 70-80%. Because the persistent nausea and vomiting cause dehydration, electrolyte abnormality or undernutrition, a patient feels strong physiological and psychological discomfort resulting in great distress in the patient. Therefore, it is the top priority in clinical practice to minimize nausea and vomiting.
As a therapeutic drug which suppresses these symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, a serotonin receptor antagonist such as granisetron hydrochloride, ramosetron hydrochloride, or ondansetron hydrochloride is generally and widely used in clinical practice.
As an administration method of said serotonin receptor antagonist, oral administration or intravenous administration is generally carried out. However, because it is not easy to administer an oral drug to a patient who suffers from nausea and vomiting or has difficulty in swallowing, and even when administered, there is a possibility that the patient spits up the drug, an oral administration is not preferable in light of QOL (Quality of Life) of the patient.
Also, regarding intravenous injection, it causes pain to a patient, and has restrictions such as the impossibility of applying to a patient who receives home medical care because it requires treatment by a medical doctor or a nurse. Therefore, the intravenous injection is also not preferable in light of QOL (Quality of Life) of the patient.
Thus, a variety of attempts have been made to develop a transdermal absorption-type patch which can be easily administered to a patient, does not cause pain to the patient, and thereby could improve QOL (Quality of Life) of the patient.
As the above transdermal absorption-type patch, an adhesive patch which comprises an acrylic adhesive containing a non-acidic hydroxyl moiety and filled with a physiologically effective amount of granisetron (Patent Document 1), and a patch which comprises an adhesive containing a serotonin receptor antagonist in an effective amount for antiemetic activity and an absorption enhancer, and can be applied to a skin for 24 hours or more (Patent Document 2), have been developed.
However, regarding the formulation in Patent Document 1, because it is prepared by using a hydroxyl group as a functional group in the acrylic adhesive so that the formulation can be applied to a skin for a long time (24 hours or more), there are problems such as too strong initial adhesive power and holding power, resulting in a peeling of a horny layer simultaneously with a peeling of the formulation, which causes a strong skin irritation. Also, because of the presence of a functional group in the adhesive, the transdermal absorbability is also insufficient.
Furthermore, Patent Document 3 discloses a transdermal absorption-tape containing granisetron in an adhesive base consisting of a copolymer of 2-ethylhexyl acrylate and vinylpyrrolidone, isopropyl myristate, and lauric acid diethanolamide. Although said formulation is characterized in that it can continuously release a drug, there is still scope for improvement in view of the rapid onset of drug efficacy required for a formulation for once-daily administration. Also, because said formulation contains lauric acid diethanolamide, which is a non-ionic surfactant, it causes a strong skin irritation.